Barwell 1 Stafford Rangers 2 - Report
Stafford Rangers came from behind to snatch a slender victory at mid-table rivals Barwell in a game that saw the home side finish with just nine men.
It was the hosts who opened the scoring midway through a scrappy opening half when a free-kick was played into the area by Craig Stanley and Boro defender Kieran Morris headed into his own net.
The visitors slowly eased their way back into contention with Osebi Abadaki blazing over before they were awarded a penalty on 32 minutes which Rob Thompson-Brown duly converted. The game threatened to boil over on the stroke of half-time. A push on Kyle Perry resulted in a second Stafford penalty which Thompson-Brown converted and then, moments later, Barwell midfielder Nigel Julien saw red for his challenge on Izak Reid.
They also had Lee Hildreth dismissed after the break.
The visitors tried to make their extra man count after the break but struggled to test Liam Castle in the Barwell goal.
But any hope the home side had of clawing level looked to have disappeared when they had a second player sent off, Lee Hildreth seeing red after picking up a second booking.
Then, with five minutes remaining, Barwell should have equalised when Matt Stenson took the ball past Boro keeper Adam Whitehouse only to put the ball wide of the empty goal.
Boosted by that miss, Abadaki went close to a third for the visitors only to be denied by a decent save but Rangers boss Neil Kitching will be happy his side stretched their unbeaten run to seven games.
